Tremendous Bowl PR: How you can break via the litter and achieve earned media throughout the lead-up to the Huge Sport

A PR individual assigned to achieve main earned media publicity for a sponsors’ Tremendous Bowl tie-in throughout the early years of the Huge Sport was the equal of being given an ice cream sundae by company administration. Reporters had been anxious to interview soccer gamers that PR individuals would pitch as spokesmen for manufacturers. 

However through the years, the media has modified the way it covers pre-game tales. Now the emphasis shouldn’t be on gamers, groups and the sport, however in regards to the points surrounding the Tremendous Bowl, most of them damaging. Providing present or previous soccer gamers for interviews is now not the positive factor it was. 

Most media protection of final yr’s recreation revolved across the accidents to soccer participant’s brains from concussions and at-home playing. Gone are the times when a PR individual may name up a sportswriter and say, “I could make Joe Jones, who performed for the XYZ crew within the Tremendous Bowl two years in the past, obtainable for an interview. Do you wish to interview him?” And normally the reply was “sure.” 

Additionally, manufacturers in the present day can not management what a participant may say throughout a dwell interview as a result of, in contrast to just a few many years in the past, when most gamers wouldn’t make statements that might upset a sponsor, newer ones are usually not afraid to talk their minds about controversial points which may upset sponsors. 

A brief media historical past lesson

Prior to now, sportswriters wouldn’t write in regards to the unsavory off the sector actions of athletes. “If it doesn’t occur on the ball area, it’s not a sports activities story, a nationally-known columnist as soon as instructed me.” Immediately that kind of considering may get an individual fired. Print sports activities writers in the present day, in contrast to too many sports activities broadcasters, now not act as PR arms of groups and leagues. 

However many sports activities entrepreneurs and starry-eyed, sports activities loopy PR individuals appear to not consider that journalism has modified. The times when writers would cowl up the antics of a Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle are gone. When selecting an athlete to signify a model, each manufacturers and their PR individuals refuse to acknowledge that athletes’ misdoings are actually a staple of sports activities reporting. 

Does this imply that entrepreneurs or publicists ought to keep away from utilizing athletes to achieve publicity for merchandise or occasions? Not essentially. Nonetheless, the next must be capitalized in daring kind in each advertising or public relations play e-book: The Most Standard Athletes of the Second are Not Essentially the Finest Selections. 

I’ve been concerned with the sports activities scene for a few years, first as a sports activities reporter, then practically 25 years at Burson-Marsteller and after as a marketing consultant. I’ve witnessed the great, the dangerous and the ugly on all ranges of the sports activities world, from highschool to the Olympics. 

Within the Nineteen Seventies and ’80s, when managing for eight years the publicity efforts for Gillette’s MLB All-Star Sport fan election, I assumed there was a safer method of utilizing athletes than following the conformist advertising technique of partnering with big-name present athletes. Regardless of warnings that my method would absolutely fail in gaining the publicity I believed it might. And it did. I urged utilizing retired stars for publicity efforts. A number of the athletes urging followers to vote in All-Star elections that I used had been Leo Durocher, Lefty Gomez, Juan Marichal, Ted Williams, Bob Feller, Sparky Anderson, Ernie Banks and Ralph Kiner. Primarily based on the success of that marketing campaign, I really helpful that Corridor of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts and Olympic standout Bob Mathias had been recruited in Olympic-related campaigns that I managed, Roberts as spokesman for the 1984 baseball crew that competed within the Los Angeles Olympics. 

There are 4 predominant causes for suggesting retired athletes or these not within the present media highlight

• They’re simpler to come back to phrases with than present or current stars. 
• Present stars are interviewed by reporters ceaselessly, normally not about product endorsements, however in regards to the final or subsequent recreation. 
• Nostalgia is a giant a part of sports activities reporting, so bringing again stars from one other period offers recent copy. 
• Importantly, they’re much less prone to get into hassle or categorical opinions which may end in dangerous publicity for a sponsor. 

For the Tremendous Bowl, I’d counsel PR practitioners analysis former Tremendous Bowl gamers who haven’t been within the media highlight for just a few many years and use them as model spokesmen throughout the lead-up to the Huge Sport. Making athletes who are usually not simply obtainable to the media for interviews offers a extra possible solution to break via the media litter surrounding a mega sporting occasion. Simply make sure that the athletes have repute. (What I’d do earlier than selecting an athlete as a spokesperson, is ask just a few sportswriters associates of mine in the event that they knew of any skeletons within the closet which may come up throughout an interview. If the reply was “sure,” I’d cross that individual off my possible checklist. 

So my public relations recommendation is to think about using well-known athletes who’ve been out of the media highlight for awhile. A well-crafted program is bound to achieve model identification publicity and, importantly, the spokespersons are much less prone to embarrass sponsors by ending up earlier than an investigating committee, showing on the police blotter or making a controversial remark throughout an interview.